Sarah Gerton

New Leaf Literary & Media

My Manuscript Wish List®

I’m building a list of YA, MG, and adult sci-fi, fantasy and horror, especially in the crossover space. Fantasy is my first love, and I always appreciate unique, vivid settings that draw on all the senses, such as THE BELLES, CARAVAL, and RAYBEARER. I enjoy a frame story or meta twist like in THE HAZEL WOOD or BABEL, and I’d love an animal book that’s more epic than cutesy–think SILVERWING, MRS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH, or a modern WATERSHIP DOWN.

I’d also love to find something with the imaginative scope of Roald Dahl minus the misanthropy. But my favorite book of Dahl’s wasn’t fantastical–it was DANNY THE CHAMPION OF THE WORLD, in which a boy and his dad sneak onto a rich guy’s estate to poach pheasants. On the contemporary side, I’m drawn to kidlit that deals with class/money issues: in MG, I like stories about kids with jobs, like Kelly Yang’s FRONT DESK; or on the YA side, stories featuring working-class teens like DONE DIRT CHEAP or THE INHERITANCE GAMES. Humor is also something I very much appreciate!

Across age groups, I’m super interested in horror–but more than just scaring me, it has to make me either laugh (MY SISTER THE SERIAL KILLER) or weep (SHE IS A HAUNTING by Trang Tran). I prefer stories that are more life-affirming vs. nihilistic, and enjoy zombies / ghosts / creatures more than killers / slashers / psychological horror. And I love horror set in historical and/or non-Western settings, such as THE SILENCE OF BONES, Hulu’s Prey, or THE DIVINERS.

Across categories, I love books that are on the darker, weirder side, that straddle genres and take big swings, and that make me care about the characters; I gravitate toward unforgettable characters and striking prose.

Fun facts about me:

I’m a big podcast person–usually have one playing in the background all day if I’m working remotely.
I play trombone in a queer marching band.
I crochet (some), knit (a little) and am kind of a nerd about textiles and sustainable fashion.
I love whales, though I’ve never seen one IRL.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should be emailed to query@newleafliterary.com

Please send your query to query@newleafliterary.com with the following subject format: “Query: [Agent] ([Genre])”–for instance, “Query: Sarah Gerton (Adult Horror).” Please include 5 double-spaced sample pages within the body of the email (no attachments unless requested).

Guidelines & Details